The New Jersey Assembly, the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature, is reportedly holding hearings on digital currency today.

Marco Santori, a lawyer at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman with a keen interest in FinTech and digital currency, said he will be providing testimony at the hearings. Assembly Democratic spokesman Tom Hester said that in addition, the following figures from the industry will also contribute:

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Houman Shadab – Professor of Law, New York Law School
Brian Stoeckert – Managing Director, CoinComply.
Christian Martin – CEO and Co-Founder, TeraExchange.
Leonard Nuara – President and Co-Founder, TeraExchange.
Jerry Brito – Executive Director, Coin Center
Charles Cascarilla – CEO, ItBit
Robert Wilkins – CEO, ZiftrCoin
Quentin Page – General Counsel, Coinware

The hearings will get lawmakers’ feet wet on the discipline, serving mainly to educate, but with suitable regulation in mind as the end goal. Santori said that in a sense, these hearings are more significant than those that previously took place in New York:

“This will be important because, unlike state regulators, legislators have the power to create tax and other incentives to attract digital currency  businesses to their state. Regulators typically only have sticks, while legislators can offer carrots.  This could be a very good thing for the industry.”

Yesterday, Superintendent for the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) Benjamin Lawsky released a revised document of virtual currency regulations in his state.